Oscars 2022 lets fans vote for films, even if they aren't nominated

Selected movie will be announced at the ceremony, while three winners will get an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles

Organisers of the Oscar Awards have partnered with Twitter to give film fans the chance to vote for their favourite movies of 2021. AFP

Movie fanatics will get the chance to honour their favourite films even if they weren't nominated for the coming Oscars ceremony on March 27. Organisers of the Academy Awards have partnered with Twitter for a fan-voted award, with the film with the most votes to be recognised at the gala, to be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Using the hashtag #OscarsFanFavorite, Twitter users can vote for any film that was released in 2021, until March 3. While the fan-selected film will not be an official category, organisers are hoping it would give movie lovers the chance to be part of the Oscars experience "in ways they've never been able to before".

"Social media users around the world now have more opportunities to engage with the show in real-time," Meryl Johnson, vice president of digital marketing at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences told The Hollywood Reporter. "We’re thrilled to partner with Twitter to help build an engaged and excited digital audience leading up to this year’s ceremony."

The Academy had, in the past, toyed with the idea of introducing a "most popular film" category for the 2019 awards, but eventually scrapped the idea after opposition from critics and Academy members.

The Twitter partnership will also give three winners from the social media platform who, along with their guests, will get an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to present an Oscar award at the 2023 ceremony.

Besides the #OscarsFanFavorite hashtag, an #OscarsCheerMoment has also been introduced, which will allow fans to tweet about their favourite scene from a 2021 film.

The winning scenes will be shown at the Oscars ceremony, alongside the fans' tweets. Five users who participated in the campaign will also receive prizes, which include a year's supply of movie tickets, subscriptions to streaming services and collectables from the Academy Museum.

The 10 films nominated this year span the gamut, including the Abu Dhabi-filmed Dune, and the much-talked about Japanese drama Drive My Car. Declared by many critics as one of the best films of 2021, the film is up for a total of four nominations at the 94th Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Feature Film and Best Adapted Screenplay.

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